The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1887-07-27
Sara Bernhardt ON Death.


Sara Bernhardt has written an arti-
Gle on death" for the San Francisco
Examiner Here are some of the
things she says:
have great love of death.
An actress must necessarily think
something about the end of existence,
for she is so often called upon to por-
tray it
When one has begun to think on
death, there are but two ways of act
ing.
We can put our hands to our ears.
shut our eyes, and run away from the
monster.
Or else we can look calmly into the
hollow eyes of the deaths head and ac-
custom ourselves to that which must
| inevitably overtake US.
No truly great actress can dispense
with special study of the death ago
ny and all the moods and feelings
which lead up to the supreme moment.
If have succeeded at all as an artist
it has been because of this study.
The study of death is an art by itself
and very difficult art.
The painter has living models before
him, and here experience is the small
est element which he must take into
| account.
He sees with his eyes. He is not
called upon TO see with his soul.
| 1t is perfectly true that l have slept
| in a coffin. 1t was a very valuable ex-
perience. Nothing SO thoroughly
taught me the resignation of death as
this apparently crude experiment.
A coffin is the modern symbol. II
is horrible object, and all our asso-
| Citations of childhood have made it stand
for death.
To sleep in a coffin in darkness is al
most to die.
In the morning you are surprised to
be alive.
There is always road to death and
| one must know that road well to get
there on the stage.
Among my stage-deaths / count
Fedora" as an extremely unsatisfac-
| tory one.
NJ. Sardou has not given me enough
time to die.
have been compelled, therefore, in
spite of my convictions, to indicate
more strongly than | like the symp
toms of poisoning.
But if you have noticed me well yor
will have seen that the determination
to die is made apparent early in the act
and even emphasized.
This is what an artist must do wher
the text is not sufficient for the pur
pose.
Now, Camille" is great death.
The nature of the story happily
helped out the somewhat mediocre tai
| ent of the son of NJ. Dumas.
BY the very nature of the story, the
death is q prolonged one.
Ia addition | must cOncede that it i:
| very natural.
| / know that too well.
Ny sister died just such a death.
Can any one not an artist conceive
the pleasure of playing such a part
acting slow death upon the stage?
1t is the highest artistic delight pos
sible to great artist, and you car
easily see, if you stop to think, tina
these deaths must necessarily be NOR,
artistic than those which end in con
tortions And these latter are mer,
| gymnastics; whereas such deaths as oc
cur in plays like Camille" require
great knowledge and great art.
| have devoted two of my modes
works of art to death.
Ny painting, the Young Girl and
Death" was drawn from a model, al
but the face, and, of course, death.
| cannot paint well. | do not pre-
tend to do so. But my strong sympa
thy with the subject gave, l believe
the proper expression to that young
girls face.
1t is absolute innocence.
Death has her in his grasp, and
happy thing! she does not know it.
My other work-the piece of sculp
ture, After the Storms well done
| am fair hand at sculpture. an,
this time, at least, the clay responde,
to my touch
An old fisherwoman is sitting wit
her drowned son in her lap.
His limbs are not rigid. They ar
disposed as if IN sleep.
have made him as beautiful as
knew how
This poor boy had brief struggl
with the sea, and all was soon owe
with him.
As he lies in his mothers lap he i
unaware of death.
But look at the mothers face, draw
with grief and wrinkled with age.
She casts a stony look at her deaC
son and suffers that which no one cal
see.
She knows death because she lives